Encyclopedia of Islam

Ibn al-Bawwab, Abu al-Hasan Ali

---

and contemporary poets studied at his feet. He 

appears to have avoided close links to rulers and 

the perks derived therefrom.

Ibn al-Farid’s greatest poetry took themes 

present in Arabic poetry and used them in innova-

tive ways that expressed the longing of the mystic 

for the divine beloved. Thus, the theme of a lover 

drinking in memory of the beloved is trans-

formed, in the justly famous opening line of Ibn 

al-Farid’s “Wine Ode” (Khamriyya), to an allusion 

to the Islamic belief in a primordial 

covenant

between God and humanity in which humans, 

before time began, recognized God’s supremacy 

and oneness. Thus, he says, “We drank in memory 

of the beloved a wine; We were drunk with it 

before creation of the vine” (Homerin, Arab Poet

11). Here the beloved is God, while drunken-

ness refers to the spiritual state of intoxication, 

a state known and recognized by Sufis. The fact 

that this drunkenness occurs before the vine was 

even created reinforces the metaphorical nature of 

this allusion and draws the listener’s mind to the 

primordial covenant. Much of his poetry is of this 

sort; in Arabic it is often piercingly beautiful and 

deeply resonant.

Within a century of his death, Ibn al-Farid’s 

renown evolved from that of a great poet of mysti-

cal inclination to a great Sufi whose poetry would 

guide those on the mystical path of Sufism. Stories 

began to circulate about his supernaturally given 

knowledge and of his ability to induce mystical 

states in those around him. Early on, commenta-

tors began to read Ibn al-Farid’s verse in light of 

the monistic doctrine of i

bn

 

al

-a

rabi

 (d. 1240), in 

which the only reality that beings have lies in their 

relationship to the Absolute Being (God). This 

doctrine was very controversial, for it appeared 

to break, or at least blur, the line of distinction 

between God and humanity. Thus, Ibn al-Farid’s 

poetry, which is not so clear on this point, came 

to be lumped with Ibn al-Arabi’s more explicit 

monism. For those who followed Ibn al-Arabi, 

of course, this was positive. But Ibn al-Arabi was 

always controversial, and thus Ibn al-Farid came 

to be associated with and seen through the hotly 

contested issue of monism.

In the centuries after his death, Ibn al-Farid 

was periodically charged with infidelity for alleg-

edly having espoused this doctrine of monism. But 

he was also treated with increasing veneration by 

members of the populace and by the elite of the 

m

amlUk

 dynasty (1250–1517). Sober scholars, too, 

were among his public supporters in later times, 

asserting his orthodoxy and refuting his opponents. 

Ibn al-Farid’s grandson was in part responsible for 

transforming him into a 

saint

, especially by pub-

lishing a 

biography

 in which 

miracle

s were promi-

nently recounted, for miracles were the sine qua 

non of a Muslim saint. His burial site in the hills 

just outside c

airo

 was already a recognized place 

of pilgrimage by Mamluk times. It continued as a 

popular shrine through Ottoman times, declining 

as new modern habits began to develop in the 19th 

century and as Sufism became increasingly suspect 

among reformist and modernizing Muslim intel-

lectuals. While Sufism is still regarded somewhat 

warily by many Muslims, it experienced a modest 

revival in Egypt in the late 20th century that con-

tinues today. Ibn al-Farid’s tomb is now the scene 

of one of the major saint festivals (sing. 

mawlid

) 

on the religious calendar of Cairo. Egypt’s most 

famous singer of religious songs, Shaykh Yasin al-

Tihami comes to the festival most years, drawing 

large and devoted crowds. His songs include those 

based on the poetry of Ibn al-Farid, whom locals 

refer to as “our master Umar.”

See also  a

rabic

 

langUage

 

and

 

literatUre

; 

aUthority

; 

bidaa

; s

alaFism

.

John Iskander